Aldi shoppers wowed by Chatteris-grown giant pumpkin help raise £750 for Children in Need

John Richardson (left) and his wife Sandra (right) are pictured with fellow allotment holders who helped with the collection for Children In Need.

Published:11:45Wednesday 11 October 2017

A sight of the largest pumpkin grown in Cambridgeshire wowed shoppers at a Chatteris supermarket and helped to raise hundreds of pounds for charity.

The pumpkin, grown by John Richardson, made its first appearance at the Chatteris Allotment Association Pumpkins and Produce Show where it unsurprisingly won the cup for the largest pumpkin grown on the allotments.

Visitors to the show were invited to try to guess the weight of the giant vegetable and two correctly guessed 300kg (47 stone).

The pumpkin then went on show in Aldi car park over the weekend and shoppers were invited to donate money to BBC Children in Need. The impressive sum of £750 was raised for the charity thanks to the donations and the proceeds of the competition.

The pumpkin then took the Heaviest Pumpkin grown in East Anglia cup at the Soham Pumpkin show and its final appearance was at the Autumn Food and Country Fair at the East of England showground where it took the runner up slot.